Friday, July 18, 2008

So why haven't I finished more projects lately? Aahhhh... because I've been busy getting quilts ready for my guild's annual auction! Above is a photo of one of several quilts I've donated to the auction; it's a king-size quilt (you can see more items at www.lakeviewquiltersguild.org). I believe in supporting quilt guilds; they offer quiltmakers so many opportunities to learn, be inspired, and make friends. If you don't belong to a guild, consider joining one. If you don't have one near you, start one!

As I said in my previous post, quilting is therapeutic for me -- it's so relaxing! And so now that I'm all relaxed, I'd better get back to work. Projects are calling my name and each one wants to be first in line to be finished!

While spending a couple of weeks working on other projects, I contemplated how to quilt Night Before Christmas. My quandary was how to quilt the border, knowing that I planned to have a wandering feathered vine in all of the 4-inch wide sashings. I worried that more feathered vines in the border would overwhelm the face of the quilt.

As designers, we all have to consider combinations of options, our personal capabilities, and the tools at hand. I finally used a plastic overlay and "practiced" several different quilt designs on the quilt border -- from a wavy ribbons to straight lines, to evergreen trees. Despite my concerns, I decided that the best way to quilt the border was to stitch more feathered vines, and when a package arrived in the mail with the perfect color of olive-green thread, I loaded the quilt on my machine and started quilting away. Quilting -- whether by hand or machine -- is such wonderful therapy for me. It combines creativity, design, and productivity in one package, while allowing me to mull over schedules, issues, future plans, and whatever else is on my mind. Days spent quilting are totally relaxing for me!

So it's time for the "reveal." I don't have a full-size photo of Night Before Christmas to show you yet - but here are two semi-closeups so you can see how I quilted the sashings and borders. I had planned to hand-quilt the interior of the blocks because of the embellishments in them, but as it turns out, I was able to machine quilt the entire quilt. Woo hoo! It's finished! And here it is:

I'm elated that the quilt is done - except for that all-important label. That will be added in the morning....Happy stitching, everyone!Sue(c)2008 Susan H. Garman